Annabeth Reads a Book: The Lightning Thief
by Abigail Thalia La Rue
Summary: Annabeth reads The Lightning Thief,  beginning not long before Percy comes to camp. ADOPTED BY TL wifey1
1. I Find a Book

___**Author's note: Hi! This story is about Annabeth, not long before Percy comes to camp, finding a copy of The Lightning Thief and her thoughts while reading it. I hope you all don't hate it too much. Oh, and the book will be in bold. **_

_**Annabeth Reads a Book**_

It was just another day at camp. I had just come back from archery, which was taught by an Apollo camper in Chiron's absence. I was walking towards Thalia's pine tree, I had nothing to do, so I just decided to spend the day with her, like it used to be.

I sat at the base of her tree, but got up almost immediately. It seems something had already been sitting there. I looked down to see what it was I had just sat on. It was a book. Well, I had nothing better to do, so I picked up the book, and sat back down.

I wonder who left it here? Well, whoever it was wouldn't have anything against me reading it, would they?

I looked at the cover. The title was, _'Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief'_. Lightning thief? Who is this Percy Jackson guy, and what did he do? Well, there's only one way to find out. I opened the book, and started reading chapter one.

**I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE****MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER **Well, I don't really see how someone could do that accidentally.****

** Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**Half-blood? Alright, so this guys was one of us.****

** If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe what-ever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.** Good advice, too bad I already know who I am.****

** Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.** Yeah, it usually does.****

** If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.******

** Don't say I didn't warn you.** I don't see how I would do that, then I'd be talking to a book.****

** My name is Percy Jackson.** I figured as much.****

** I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.** Hmm, he's around my age.****

** Am I a troubled kid?******

** Yeah. You could say that.**Well, most of us are.****

** I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. **That sounds interesting.

**I know-it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.******

** But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.** Mr. Brunner, wasn't that Chiron's alias? ****

** Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.** Definitely Chiron.****

** I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.******

** Boy, was I wrong.**I figured, as this is where the book starts.****

** See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind- the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.** Yeah, I get the idea, this kid _is _troubled. ****

** This trip, I was determined to be good.** Good luck with that.****

** All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.** Eeew! ****

** Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**Wait. Grover? Oh gods, this trip cannot end well.****

** Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**No jokes?****

** "I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.******

** Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter. "******

** He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.******

** "That's it. " I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.******

** "You're already on probation, " he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens. "******

** Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**I would think so.****

** Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.******

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.******

** It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.** Yeah, it's amazing.****

** He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.******

** Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.** Well, I'd bet five drachmas that she's a monster.****

** From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey, " real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right. "** I hope this kid didn't die, for Grover's sake. Grover was a great satyr, he just had bad luck.****

** Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.******

** Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"******

** It came out louder than I meant it to. ******

** The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.******

** "Mr. Jackson, " he said, "did you have a comment?"******

** My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir. "******

** Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"** ****

** I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"** Well, not the best answer, but it'll have to do.****

** "Yes, " Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ... "******

** "Well... " I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"** Idiot.****

** "God?" Mr. Brunner asked.******

** "Titan, " I corrected myself. "And ... He didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"******

** "Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.** If that's gross, imaging how the kids felt. Now that would be disgusting. ****

** "-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans, " I continued, "and the gods won. "******

** Some snickers from the group.****Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids. '"** Well, it might if you applied at the museum.****

** "And why, Mr. Jackson, " Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"******

** "Busted, " Grover muttered.******

** "Shut up, " Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.******

** At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**Well, he is a centaur. ****

** I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir. "******

** "I see. " Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"** ****

** The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.******

** Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson. "******

** I knew that was coming.******

** I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"******

** Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.** Older, much older.****

** "You must learn the answer to my question, " Mr. Brunner told me. "About the Titans?"******

** "About real life. And how your studies apply to it. "******

** "Oh. "** These are things we all need to know, it's part of being what we are.****

** "What you learn from me, " he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. "** ****

** I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**He does that.****

** I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman per-son who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.** He probably was.****

** He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.******

** The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.******

** Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.** Well, if something is going on between Zeus and Poseidon, and it seems there is, I wouldn't doubt it.****

** Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.** Definitely a monster** .******

** Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**I don't think that plan will work very well.****

** "Detention?" Grover asked.******

** "Nah, " I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius. "** I can tell.****

** Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"** Typical Grover.****

** I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.******

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me. Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**At least this kid sees his mom at Christmas, I haven't seen my dad in years.****

** I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**Well, I really don't think he'll take that kind of thing from her, so what's he going to do?****

** "Oops. " She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray- painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**A strange analogy. ****

** I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper. " But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**A wave? This cannot be good.****

** I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"** Serves her right.****

** Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"******

** "-the water-"******

** "-like it grabbed her-"** No, it couldn't be, they made an oath. But, Thalia. ****

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.******

** As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc. , etc. , Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"** Oh no, this is not good.****

** "I know, " I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks. "** Not even close.****

** That wasn't the right thing to say.******

** "Come with me, " Mrs. Dodds said.******

** "Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her. "** That won't work, Grover, you know that.****

** I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**See? He's a great satyr, and a great friend.****

** She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.******

** "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood, " she said.******

** "But-"******

** "You-will-stay-here. "******

** Grover looked at me desperately.******

**"It's okay, man, " I told him. "Thanks for trying. "******

** "Honey, " Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now. "******

** Nancy Bobofit smirked.******

** I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.******

** How'd she get there so fast?** Well, from her description, I'm guessing she's a kindly one.****

** I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.******

** I wasn't so sure.** This kid is perceptive, not a trait young half-bloods wish for, it only gets you killed sooner.****

** I went after Mrs. Dodds.******

** Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**Seriously? How could he not notice all that?**  
**

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**Nope.****

** But apparently that wasn't the plan.******

** I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.******

** Except for us, the gallery was empty.******

** Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.** Not _like_ growling, that _is_ growling.****

** Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...** I'm guessing she does.****

** "You've been giving us problems, honey, " she said.******

** I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am. "******

** She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"******

** The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.** Duh!****

** She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**You wish.****

** I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am. "******

** Thunder shook the building.** What did this kid do? ****

** "We are not fools, Percy Jackson, " Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain. "******

** I didn't know what she was talking about.******

** All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**What? That's a great book.****

** "Well?" she demanded.******

** "Ma'am, I don't... "******

** "Your time is up, " she hissed.******

** Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**Yeah, that is a kindly one.****

** Then things got even stranger.****  
****Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**A pen? I know the pen is supposed to be mightier than the sword and all, but a pen, against a monster?****

** "What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.******

** With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**Oh, I guess that pen would work fairly well against a monster.****

** Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.******

** My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.******

** She snarled, "Die, honey!"******

** And she flew straight at me.******

** Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**Yes, swinging a sword comes naturally with terror.****

** The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!******

** Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me. **Sand castle in a power fan, now that's a good analogy.****

** I was alone.******

** There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.******

** Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.******

** My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or some-thing.** You wish.****

** Had I imagined the whole thing?******

** I went back outside.******

** It had started to rain.******

** Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt. "** What? Oh yeah, the Mist would be messing with the mortals, but how did they get a new teacher so quickly?****

** I said, "Who?"******

** "Our teacher. Duh!"******

** I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.******

** She just rolled her eyes and turned away.******

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.******

** He said, "Who?"******

** But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**Grover has never been good at lying.****

** "Not funny, man, " I told him. "This is serious. "******

** Thunder boomed overhead.******

** I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him.******

** He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson. "******

** I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**How do you not notice that you're holding a pen?****

** "Sir, " I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"******

** He stared at me blankly. "Who?"******

** "The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher. "******

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"** Now Chiron can lie. He doesn't like to, but he has acquired a skill for it over the years.

That's the end of chapter one, I wonder what's going to happen?

_**Author's note: Okay, I know it sucks, but that's chapter one. If you hate it and want to kill me for posting it, please tell me, I'll try to make it better. Thank you to anyone who actually bothered to read this. Love ya!**_


	2. The Fates Knit Socks For Godzilla

_** Author's note: Well, that's chapter two. It probably sucks, but I don't know, I write this part before I write the actual chapter. I hope it doesn't suck too badly.**_

Well, I guess it's time to find out what happens in chapter two.

**THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH **Oh gods; I hope this doesn't mean what I think it does.****

** I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty- four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.** The Mist can do that to you, some of us-most that don't come to camp-think they've gone insane.****

** Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.******

** It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.******

** Almost.******

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**He's a terrible liar, but a great friend.****

** Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum. I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**I know how that feels. I still have nightmares about that Cyclops.****

** The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.******

** I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.** He really shouldn't let his grades drop, they were bad enough to begin with.****

** Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good. The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.** Well, that's what happens when you basicly call your teacher an old, drunken, idiot.****

** Fine, I told myself. Just fine.******

** I was homesick.** Of course you are, we all are, sometimes.****

** I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.******

**And yet... There were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.******

** I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.** Chiron has faith in all of us, he expects us to become great heroes.****

** As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.** Well, you should. Wait! I'm talking to a book! Oh well, it's not like I've got anything better to do.****

** The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one- eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**I hate it when that happens, but please, don't throw books.****

** I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**That would be strange.****

** I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.******

** I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.** They're not myths, those stories actually happened, it's history.****

** I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried. **

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.******

** I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... Worried about Percy, sir. "******

** I froze.******

** I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**It's impossible, even without ADHD.****

** I inched closer.******

** "... Alone this summer, " Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"******

** "We would only make matters worse by rushing him, " Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more. "******

** "But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line-"******

** "Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can. "******

** "Sir, he saw her... . "** Yes, and now he's hearing you.****

** "His imagination, " Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that. "******

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again. " Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean. "******

** "You haven't failed, Grover, " Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"******

** The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**He doesn't seem to be very stealthy, but it's better that he doesn't hear any more, at least not yet.****

** Mr. Brunner went silent.******

** My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.******

** A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.** It is, I can't believe he would risk blowing his cover, what if it was another student, what if they could see through the mist? ****

** I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.******

** A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.******

** A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.******

** Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing, " he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice. "******

** "Mine neither, " Grover said. "But I could have sworn ... "******

** "Go back to the dorm, " Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow. "** That would be terrible, having to repeat school over and over again.****

** "Don't remind me. "******

** The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.******

** I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.******

** Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.******

** Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**Well, at least Grover is studying for his exams.****

** "Hey, " he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"******

** I didn't answer.******

** "You look awful. " He frowned. "Is everything okay?"******

** "Just... Tired. "******

** I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**That's not going to work, satyrs can read your emotions, and so can friends, so he can definitely tell something's up.****

** I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.******

** But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**You are. In the mortal world, we all are.****

** The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.******

** For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.******

** "Percy, " he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... It's for the best. "** Chiron, you're just going to end up making him feel worse.****

** His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. **Stupid girl.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir. "******

** "I mean ... " Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time. "******

** My eyes stung.******

** Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.******

** "Right, " I said, trembling.******

** "No, no, " Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... You're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"******

**"Thanks, " I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.**This is why Chiron shouldn't try to give advice to those of us who don't yet know what they are, he's a trainer, not a counselor. ****

** "Percy-"******

** But I was already gone.****  
**** On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.******

** The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**No you're not. Your father is an immortal god, that's way cooler than some stupid celebrity.****

** They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.** New York is an amazing city, not like Athens, but amazing.****

** What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**Maybe you won't have to.****

** "Oh, " one of the guys said. "That's cool. "******

** They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.******

** The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**Of course he did, he's probably planning to take you to camp.****

** During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he****  
****expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.******

** Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.******

** I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"** Don't freak him out, he's only scared for you.****

** Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"******

** I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.******

** Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"******

** "Oh ... Not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"** Yeah, what is that about?****

** He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ... "******

** "Grover-"******

** "And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ... "******

** "Grover, you're a really, really bad liar. "** We all know that, a good quality in a friend, but lying can get you out of a bad situation.****

** His ears turned pink.******

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.******

** The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:******

** Grover Underwood******

** Keeper******

** Half-Blood Hill******

** Long Island, New York******

** (800) 009-0009 **Why in hades would they put it in fancy script? It would be so much easier if they printed them in Greek.****

** "What's Half-"******

** "Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... Summer address. "******

** My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.** He's not.****

**"Okay, " I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion. "** No, if you're in danger, being chased by monsters, stuff like that.****

** He nodded. "Or ... Or if you need me. "******

** "Why would I need you?"** Well that was rude.****

** It came out harsher than I meant it to.******

** Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you. "******

** I stared at him.******

** All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**This kid is a good friend to Grover, he cares so much.****

** "Grover, " I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"******

** There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.** Oh no, this can't be good.****

** After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else. We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.******

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**No, it can't be, not them.****

** I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.******

** All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.** Yeah, it's definitely them.****

** The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me. **

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.******

** "Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"******

** "Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"******

** "Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"******

** "Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all. "** Actually, in a less tense situation, that'd be pretty funny.****

** The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**Styx, this is bad, very bad.****

**"We're getting on the bus, " he told me. "Come on. "******

** "What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there. "******

** "Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla.** No. This kid was so kind, he didn't deserve to die. But the Fates are cruel, we all know that.****

** At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**Of course, now it works.****

** The passengers cheered.******

** "Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"******

** Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.******

** Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering. "Grover?"******

** "Yeah?"******

** "What are you not telling me?"******

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"******

** "You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"******

** His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw. "******

** "The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn. "******

** He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.******

** He said, "You saw her snip the cord. "******

** "Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**Yes, a _very_ big deal.****

** "This is not happening, " Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time. "******

** "What last time?"******

** "Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth. "******

** "Grover, " I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"******

** "Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me. "** Grover, stop freaking to kid out, he's frightened enough already.****

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.******

** "Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.******

** No answer.******

** "Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"** Hmmm, the boy may be more perceptive than I thought.****

** He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.** He might be doing just that.

Okay, no I was freaked out. Was all this real? Was this actually going to happen?

If this boy was real, I'd find out. He's powerful enough for Grover to have called Chiron about; he'll make it to camp. I hope. I guess I'd just have to keep reading.

_**Author's note: I was right, that sucked. Well, if any of you actually want this to continue, tell me. If not, I won't bother; I'll just work on something else. Even if you flame, I'd love to hear from you guys. Love ya!**_**  
**


	3. Percy Goes To The Beach

_**Author's note: Okay, chapter three, I hope you don't hate it too much! I'm sorry for not updating lately. I know this is terrible, but I'm trying to make the next chapter better.**_

__Well, chapter three. I think this kid, Percy, may be real, the book goes on for a while, so I'm guessing he makes it to camp.

**GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS******

** Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal. **Or not.****

** I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"** Grover! Why can't he learn to not freak out, at least not so obviously?****

** Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.******

** "East One-hundred-and-fourth and First, " I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.******

** Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.** That is terrible luck.****

** The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**Oh course it was.****

** I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.** No, she wouldn't. My dad has none of my mom either.****

** See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back. **

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.** Oh no, it is him. This kid, no, he can't be, but he must be.****

** She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.** No, not many of us are.****

** Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick-named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**That is disgusting.****

** Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... Well, when I came home is a good example.******

** I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**What a pig.****

** Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home. "******

** "Where's my mom?"******

** "Working," he said. "You got any cash?"******

** That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?******

** Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**Disgusting and stupid.****

** He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret. " Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**No! If that idiot even touches him, I swear I will . . . What am I doing? I think this book is messing with my head.****

** "I don't have any cash," I told him.******

** He raised a greasy eyebrow. Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.** That's probably why your mom married the jerk, to hide you from monsters.****

** "You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"******

** Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe, " he said. "The kid just got here. "**Ah, a decent human being.****

** "Am I right?" Gabe repeated.******

** Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**This kid needs a gas mask, and about a ton of air fresheners. ****

** "Fine, " I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose. " **So do I.****

** "Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"******

** I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study. " He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.** I'm seriously considering sneaking in and stabbing this pig.****

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.******

** Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**That is bad.****

** But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic-how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone- something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**Don't worry, once you're trained, you'll still worry about that, but you'll have a much greater chance of survival.****

** Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"******

** She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.****  
**** My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**Wow, I guess he wasn't exaggerating, she actually does sound like the best person in the world. He's very lucky.****

** "Oh, Percy. " She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"******

** Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**That would be nice.****

** We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right? **Aww, how cute. That is how a parent should act, not like my father.****

** I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**A typical boy.****

** From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"******

** I gritted my teeth.**I would have punched him.****

** My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**Or a god, I assume she would have preferred to be married to your father. ****

** For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad. **It's alright, I'm sure you'll see Grover and Chiron very soon, and there are plenty of girls like Nancy in the Ares cabin.****

** Until that trip to the museum ...****  
**** "What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my con-science, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"** ****

** "No, Mom. "******

** I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**No, it wouldn't. To her, it would sound more like an ultimatum than anything else.****

** She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me. **She should have, it would have been better.****

** "I have a surprise for you, " she said. "We're going to the beach. "******

** My eyes widened. "Montauk?"******

** "Three nights-same cabin. "******

** "When?"******

** She smiled. "As soon as I get changed. "******

** I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**Well, there would be if he didn't waste it on beer and cigars and gamble the rest away.****

** Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"******

** I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**Must be a nice beach for him to be willing to be nice to that jerk.****

** "I was on my way, honey, " she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip. "******

** Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"******

** "I knew it, " I muttered. "He won't let us go. "** Oh, he will, unless he wants my knife through his chest.****

** "Of course he will, " my mom said evenly. "Your step-father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides, " she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works. "** Bribery, an excellent plan.****

** Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... It comes out of your clothes budget, right?"******

** "Yes, honey, " my mother said.******

** "And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back. "******

** "We'll be very careful. "******

** Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game. " **Now he's asking for it.****

** Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**Precisely. ****

** But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.******

** Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought? **Because she wants to protect you, it'll all make sense soon.****

** "I'm sorry, " I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now. "******

** Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.******

** "Yeah, whatever, " he decided.******

** He went back to his game.****  
****"Thank you, Percy, " my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... Whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"** I figured she'd suspect something was up.****

** For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes-the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride-as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. **Most likely, you're correct.****

** But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.******

** An hour later we were ready to leave. Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camaro-for the whole weekend.**Oh, he'll survive, or not, hopefully it's the latter.****

** "Not a scratch on this car, brain boy, " he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch. "******

** Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.** That would be a bad more on his part.****

** Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair-case as if he'd been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**He's powerful, even before he knows who he is.****

** I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it. **

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**Spiders? That would be awful! Why is hades would you want to go there?****

** I loved the place.**Are you kidding me?****

** We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.** Oh.****

** As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.******

** We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work. I guess I should explain the blue food.**Yeah.****

** See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano-was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**Of course she does, although I figured you would have gotten that from your father.****

** When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**That would be nice.****

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk-my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**It was the same for me, I always asked about my mother, but never found out much.****

** "He was kind, Percy, " she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes. "** Most demigods take after their immortal parent, or at least their eyes.****

** Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud. "** Probably. It'd be hard not to be proud of a kind, powerful young hero.****

** I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**I just mentioned that.****

** "How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... When he left?"******

** She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin. "******

** "But... He knew me as a baby. "** Male gods usually don't meet their children for years, or never.****

** "No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born. "******

** I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... Something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.** He may have seen you, your mother may not have known.**  
**** I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me ...******

** I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**He already has a wife, and the oaf is only hiding your scent.****

** "Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"******

** She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.******

** "I don't know, honey. " Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something. "******

** "Because you don't want me around?" I regretted the words as soon as they were out.******

** My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away. "******

** Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**They know what they're talking about, perhaps you should listen.****

** "Because I'm not normal, " I said.** Exactly.****

** "You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe. "** It doesn't matter how far he is, they'll find him, it's amazing that he's been able to stay safe this long.****

** "Safe from what?"******

** She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**Of course you did.****

** During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.** A Cyclops. ****

** Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.******

** In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**You're a powerful half-blood, that's what happens.****

** I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**Yes, you would have to leave, but it would probably be best.****

** "I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could, " my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it. "** It must be hard, having to send your child to camp.****

** "My father wanted me to go to a special school?"******

** "Not a school, " she said softly. "A summer camp. "** Not just any summer camp.****

** My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born- talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?******

** "I'm sorry, Percy, " she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good. "******

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ... "** you might need to stay, in the mortal world, you aren't safe.****

** She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.******

** That night I had a vivid dream.**Of course you did.****

** It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuck-led somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**Well, that's not good.**  
**** I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, No!** Obviously you would want to protect the horse.****

** I woke with a start.******

** Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**Whoa, what are they fighting about? ****

** With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane. "******

** I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have for-gotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**He really shouldn't have ditched Grover.****

** Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door. My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.******

** Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... He wasn't exactly Grover.**Of course he wasn't, he wouldn't keep up his disguise whilst being chased.****

** "Searching all night, " he gasped. "What were you thinking?"******

** My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.******

** "Percy, " she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"******

** I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**You will, all too soon.****

** "O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"******

** I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on-and where his legs should be ... Where his legs should be ...**Are his legs.****

** My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"******

** I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**You should have told her, it would have been better.****

** She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"****  
****Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**He's a satyr.****

** Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves. **Well, that's another chapter finished, I assume he'll reach camp soon.

_**Author's note: Well, that's another chapter. I'm still trying to figure out how I should do this, but I've got a general idea. Thank you so much for reading. Love ya!**_


	4. Grover Wears Shag Carpet Pants

_** Author's note: Well, as some of you know; in this chapter, everything changes. And I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Please don't kill me.**_

A drop of water landed on the book. Ugh, I've got to get further into camp before it got soaked. I got up, making my way to the green in the middle of the cabins. Wow, it was getting late. I know with dyslexia I can't read very quickly, but it must be past lights-out already.

I sat by the hearth in the green. Even when it wasn't lit, it gave off a feeling of safety, home, and family. A much different atmosphere to the one just outside the border. It was pouring rain out there, with an occasional flash of lightning.

Alright then, chapter four. Well, he was being chased by a monster, so he's probably going to get to camp in this chapter. But anything could happen, so I'll just have to find out.

**MY MOTHER TEACHES ME BULLFIGHTING **Bullfighting? Oh gods, not this, he's going to get himself killed!****

** We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind-shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**She probably can't, she's just doing everything she can to get you to camp. It's the only place you'll be safe. I'd do the same thing.****

** Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants. But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo- lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**Shag-carpet pants? Well, that would be an, interesting fashion statement.****

** All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... Know each other?"******

** Graver's eyes flitted to the rear view mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly, " he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you. "******

** "Watching me?"******

** "Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend, " he added hastily. "I am your friend. "** Grover can be anyone's friend, as long as they give him a chance. Percy sound the same way, you just have to learn to put up with him. He's one of those people you have to learn to love, after that; they can be the best thing that's ever happened to you.****

** "Urn ... What are you, exactly?"******

** "That doesn't matter right now. "******

** "It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey-"******

** Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"******

** I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**Yeah, goats, and satyrs, do that sometimes.****

** "Goat!" he cried. "What?"******

** "I'm a goat from the waist down. "******

** "You just said it didn't matter. "******

** "Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"** I've never understood why they're so defensive about that, it's an honest mistake.****

** "Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"******

** "Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"** No. But does he understand any of this yet? Also a no.****

** "So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"** Duh! ****

** "Of course. "******

** "Then why-"******

** "The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract, " Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are. "******

** "Who I-wait a minute, what do you mean?"** He means you started to realize that you're a demigod. You were noticing how the world really is. If he hadn't made you believe the Kindly One didn't exist, you would have figured it out, and you'd probably be dead.****

** The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.******

**"Percy, " my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety. "******

** "Safety from what? Who's after me?"******

** "Oh, nobody much, " Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions. "** Grover! Just because you may see that as a sarcastic remark, doesn't mean it won't scare the poor kid.****

** "Grover!"******

** "Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"******

** I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**Oh, you'd be surprised at what half-bloods can dream up. But, unfortunately, you're right, it's not a dream.****

** My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**Our strawberries are better.****

** "Where are we going?" I asked.**Camp Half-blood.****

** "The summer camp I told you about. " My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you. "******

** "The place you didn't want me to go. "******

** "Please, dear, " my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger. "******

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn. "** Because the Fates cut a life-line, in front of you.****

** "Those weren't old ladies, " Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means-the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... When someone's about to die. "** Yes, and it's almost always the person they appear to, so this may be your final day.****

** "Whoa. You said 'you. '"******

** "No I didn't. I said 'someone. '"******

** "You meant 'you. ' As in me. "******

** "I meant you, like 'someone. ' Not you, you. "******

** "Boys!" my mom said.**Finally. Percy may be right, but that's one thing you shouldn't argue about; because you don't want to be right.****

** She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid-a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.******

** "What was that?" I asked.**A monster. It probably wants to kill you, but maybe not, it could want to give you a pony. Yes, that was sarcasm.****

** "We're almost there, " my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please. "** Praying won't help you know, especially if Zeus and Hades are after you. ****

** I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.******

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness-the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**Yes, that was kind of obvious. Or did you not realise when she said "die, honey" and tried to kill you.****

** Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... And the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.******

** I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**That would be painfully strange. Please don't die.****

** I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow. " Is he okay?******

** "Percy!" my mom shouted.******

** "I'm okay... . "** Oh, thank the gods; I was worried for a second there.****

** I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in. **

**Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"******

** He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!** Oh my gods! Is he alright?****

** Then he groaned "Food, " and I knew there was hope.** Yeah, he's fine, for now at least.****

**"Percy, " my mother said, "we have to ... " Her voice faltered.******

** I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**Styx, it is him. I can't believe Hades would send the Minotaur after a twelve year old. Well, I'm twelve, but I've had training, he hasn't. ****

** I swallowed hard. "Who is-"******

** "Percy, " my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car. "** Yes, that would be a good idea.****

** My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.** Yeah, don't climb through that, I don't want you getting hurt. Wait, why do I care if some kid in a book gets killed? Well, I just do; curse Aphrodite. ****

** "Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy-you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"******

** "What?"** The huge tree on top of a big hill.****

** Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**Yes, that's Thalia's pine tree, which is at the top of Half-blood hill.****

** "That's the property line, " my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door. " **Yes, just get across the magical border, run to the Big House, and get some people to go kick the minotaur's butt. ****

** "Mom, you're coming too. "******

** Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**She can't; mortals can't cross the border.****

** "No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover. "******

** "Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.******

** The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands-huge meaty hands-were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... Was his head. And the points that looked like horns ...**Are horns. That 'guy' is half bull; so yes, he has horns.****

** "He doesn't want us, " my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."** Yes, unfortunately, that's true. It'll be after Percy. And if it can't get to him, it may go after Grover. ****

** "But... "******

** "We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please. "** Yes. Go. She'll be alright. Just go.****

** I got mad, then-mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**Grover is a satyr, not a goat. Andthat thing with horns is the Minotaur, which is half bull, so it acts like a bull.****

** I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom. "******

** "I told you-"******

** "Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover. "** Well, he is persistent; that'll get him killed. But he's powerful, so with luck, he may make it out of this alive.****

** I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.** ****

** Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist- high grass.**I remember the night I came to camp. Scrambling up the hill, being chased by monsters, and just trying to stay alive. ****

** Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear-I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms-which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**Wow. The Minotaur in its underwear? That is just, wow. I think the word I'm looking for would be disturbing.****

** His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and- white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.** This thing is horrible, how could someone send that after him? He's only a kid, and he didn't do anything.****

** I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**Well, he is, they all are; it's a fact we must face. ****

** I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's-"******

** "Pasiphae's son, " my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you. "** Yes, if she'd only sent him to camp sooner, they wouldn't be in this mess.****

** "But he's the Min-"******

** "Don't say his name, " she warned. "Names have power. "** Yes, they do, that's why I don't say them aloud.****

** The pine tree was still way too far-a hundred yards uphill at least. I glanced behind me again.**Well, if you were in better shape, it wouldn't seem as far.****

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows-or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**Yes, it was tracking your scent; it has terrible eyesight. Almost as terrible as the rest of it.****

** "Food?" Grover moaned.**Grover! Shut up! Do you want to get Percy, his mother, and yourself killed? No, I thought not.****

** "Shhh, " I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"******

** "His sight and hearing are terrible, " she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough. " **See? At least she knows what's going on.****

** As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**Well, I hope your insurance covers monster attacks.****

** Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.**Oh well, it's his fault, lending a car to a powerful demigod.****

** Oops. "Percy, " my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"** Ah, good, she has a plan. I would have probably said something along the same lines.****

** "How do you know all this?"******

** "I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me. "** It wasn't selfish; a lot of us would love to have a parent that cares that much.****

** "Keeping me near you? But-"** Yes, when you go to camp, you could die, or decide to stay year round; so you wouldn't see her.****

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.******

** He'd smelled us.**Ya think.****

** The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**Yeah, he should lay off the coke cans.****

** The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us. My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said. "** Yes, you should always have a plan. ****

** I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right-it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**Ugh,that is just disgusting. I hate that smell, not just because it's really gross, but because of the memories associated with it.****

** He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.** Stick to the plan, please. I don't want you to die.****

** The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**Good, he actually followed the plan. All he has to do is make it over the hill, then he'll be safe.****

** The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.** Oh no. It's not going to fall for that twice, she's not going to make it.****

** We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it. **All you have to do is make it to the tree, then you're safe. Please, run, it's only after you.****

** The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**She knows she can't get across the border, she'll never make it. Like Thalia, giving herself up to save others.****

** "Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"** Listen to her! Run, Percy!****

** But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.** Go, just go, you can't save her.****

** "Mom!"******

** She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"** Please, just listen.****

** Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... Gone. **Wait, where did she go? This is bad, she's not dead, but if Hades uses her as bait, Percy will be.

**"No!"******

** Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs-the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**Well, that would have been great a few minutes earlier****

** The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**No, he wouldn't take a satyr. Would he?****

** I couldn't allow that.**Neither could I.****

** I stripped off my red rain jacket.**Oh gods, that plan is definitely not worthy of Athena.****

** "Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"** Ugh. Wait, what was that? I thought I heard something.****

** "Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**Well, that's not good. Okay, I must be imagining things; this is not real.****

** I had an idea-a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment. But it didn't happen like that.**Okay, judging by the fact that this book has a lot more pages, and there has been nothing to indicate a change in narrators, I'll assume you didn't get skewered. ****

** The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**Oh gods, no.****

** Time slowed down.**I know the feeling; very well.****

** My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**Whoa, that will be a lot more difficult to stay on than your average bull ride.****

** How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**Ouch, I'm sure your dentist is glad about the almost. Or not, because you'd have to pay to get them fixed.****

** The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**Well, please, just don't die.****

** The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**Yeah, that's good, I'd rather the Minotaur not smash into Thalia's tree or smash you.****

** Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**And no one wants that.****

** "Food!" Grover moaned.**Shut up!****

** The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then-snap!** Okay, what broke, you or the horn? Please don't let it be you.****

** The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**I really have to get my ears checked, I must be hearing things.****

** The monster charged. Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**Yes! Now get Grover and go to the Big House. ****

** The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate-not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**Yes, as you said, a sandcastle in a power fan.****

** The monster was gone.**I assumed as much.****

** The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm-house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover-I wasn't going to let him go.**I looked up; the rain had stopped outside camp as well. This was getting weird, I'm going to Chiron; he should be back. But, as I walked to the Big House, I couldn't help reading the last paragraph of the chapter.****

** The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's. They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be. "** Why would an Aphrodite girl be up at that hour; shouldn't she be getting her 'beauty sleep'? And what is she talking about?****

** "Silence,** What is that word? It's probably her name, but I can't figure out what it is. Oh well, I was at the Big House already. I knocked on the door, and waited.

Chiron opened the door, "Annabeth, what are you doing up at this hour?" He asked. "And you weren't at dinner, where have you been?"

"I found this book." I said, holding it up for him to see. I started explaining how everything seemed real, and how thing had happened when the book mentioned them and the sounds I had heard. "I think it's real."

He nodded. "Well, as always, you are correct, child." What?

It sounded like something fell outside. I opened the door.

I saw Grover, unconscious. But there was another boy with black hair, and from what I could see, sea green eyes. "He's the one. He must be. " Oops, that slipped out. It's just, I got distracted; he's just so, for lack of a better word, cute. **  
**

"Silence, Annabeth, " Chiron said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside. " Wow, the word I couldn't figure out, was my own name. So I was the girl he saw; this is real. Wait, he thinks I'm pretty?

Chiron takes Grover, and I shoulder Percy, lugging him to the sickroom. I laid him down on one of the beds, then sat in the chair beside it.

Whoa, this is crazy. But it's real, Percy is real, and he's in danger.

_**Author's note: Well, there you have it, the plot twist! Please, I'd love to hear your suggestions. Again, I'm really sorry about not updating, I have no excuse. I hope you liked it! Love ya!**_


	5. Enough Drool To Fill a Lake

_**Author's note: Ha, ironic how, a few days after I say a won't, I start on a new chapter. You have Erin Hunters 4 Ever to blame (or thank) for that. This chapter is dedicated to her, because she reminded me that, unlike in the real world, some people actually like my writing. **_

_**Enough Drool to Fill a Lake**_

He woke up a few times, but never for long. I had been feeding his some mushed ambrosia, but he moved around too much, so I was constantly using the spoon to get it off his face. The fact that his mouth was already overflowing with drool didn't really help.

He had been talking in his sleep, something about the summer solstice, so when I saw his eyes open again, I asked him about it. "What will happen at the summer solstice?"

He couldn't talk very well, not surprising considering how long he'd been out of it. "What?

I looked around. He had said something had been stolen. I knew something was going on, but Chiron had told us not to talk about it, and I didn't want him to overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

"I'm sorry, " I mumbled, "I don't... " Gods, doesn't he know anything? I should just flip to the end of the book... Where did I leave that?

Somebody knocked on the door, so I had to shove some more of the ambrosia into his mouth.

I stayed with him for a while after that, but after a few hours Argus took over for me. The next day Grover took him out to the porch, well, I helped carry him, but then I had to go to arts and crafts.

But I was a little late, Grover got me to watch him for a couple minutes while he went to get the minotaur horn.

After arts and crafts I came back to talk to Chiron, and it seemed Percy had woken up while I was gone. He ran up to Chiron, he didn't notice me for a minute or two, but then Chiron introduced me to him.

"Annabeth?" He called to me, as if I hadn't been listening to them.

I came forward "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now. "

"Sure, Chiron. " Well, if he is who I think he is, he won't be in there for long.

I looked at the horn in his hand. I could have said something about his victory being surprising for someone with no battle training, or, not like I would say this out loud, that his eyes look just like the ocean and that it suits his, but I instead I went with "You drool when you sleep."

Then I sprinted off to the cabins, before something embarrassing slipped out.

I went and told Luke to have a space cleared for him, and he said something about stealing him some toiletries. Then I was walking around for a while, before I saw Chiron leading him around camp.

_**Author's note: I know it's short, but most of this chapter Annabeth isn't there and I'm too last to make up stuff for her to do. Love ya!**_


	6. Thank You

Okay, this is not a chapter, this is an announcement. This story is now up for adoption. So, if any of you want to continue this story, please just tell me in a pm or review. And if you do decide to adopt this story, I will always be willing to help if you are ever stuck.

Also, some of you may or may not have noticed that I have deleted one of my other stories, 'Love and Life: a Demigod's Story', and if any of you would like to continue it, just tell me and I can send you the documents via docX

I want to thank all of you that have supported me through this story, by favorite-ing, subscribing, reviewing, or even just reading. Thank you.

Love ya!


	7. Adopted

Wow, adopted already, I didn't think it would happen so fast. This story has been adopted by TL wifey1.

Love&Life is still up for adoption if anyone wants it.

Again, I want to thank all of you who have stayed with me through this, no matter how long I went between updates you guys never gave up on me. I hope you are the same to TL wifey1.

Love ya!


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